Minneapolis is a city steeped in history, with a rich cultural heritage and a diverse population that has shaped its development for more than 150 years. From its early days as a frontier outpost to its rise as a major industrial milling center, the city has been witness to many important events and has played a significant role as the heartbeat of the upper Midwest economy. Today, many of the city's historic buildings, structures, and neighborhoods stand as a testament to its past.
In recognition of this rich cultural legacy, Southwest Minneapolis boasts a significant number of sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The registry was created in 1966 through the National Historic Preservation Act to identify, evaluate, measure, preserve, and protect historically significant places. To make the list, the National Park Service must determine that a building has historic significance–whether that significance is the property itself or the people who lived or worked there –or embody the characteristics of a certain architectural design style.
Southwest Minneapolis is home to 50 places deemed significant by the National Register of Historic Places, many of which are located close to downtown where the neighborhoods have older and more historic buildings and places. Here are 13 of the 49 official historic places in Southwest, specifically in Loring Park, highlighting some of the city's most notable historic landmarks and their significance to the community.
This article is part of a three-part series. Next week, a collection of historical places in Lowry Hill, Stevens Square, Whittier, East Isles, Kenwood, and Cedar-Isles-Dean. And in the final installment, readers will learn about historical places in Lyndale, South Uptown, Kingfield, East Harriet, Linden Hills, Lynnhurst, and Tangletown.
Loring Park
1. Swinford Townhouses and Apartments, added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 25, 1990: located at 13th and Hawthorne in the Loring Park neighborhood, the Swinford Townhouses were built in 1886 by the Isaac Hodgson and Sons’ company. This architectural firm started in Minneapolis in 1882, building many famed Gothic Revival and Second Empire stylized buildings of Minneapolis’ yesteryear. Of the several Hodgson and Sons’ buildings that were constructed, all but one met the wrecking ball during the 1900s; the Swinford Townhouses, which were built in 1886. The townhomes were later joined by the Swinford Apartments, designed by Harry Wild Jones in 1897. The Swinford Apartments are immediately to the west of the townhomes. The buildings are separate, however they share many similarities.
2. Laurel Apartments, added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 2020: Commissioned for construction by August Bergman, who hired Septimus Bowler to design an apartment complex in the burgeoning Loring Park neighborhood in 1893. Bowler came to Minneapolis by way of London in 1884, starting an architectural firm in 1888. Here, at the corner of Laurel Avenue and North 15th Street, Bowler designed a quartet of four-story Queen Anne stylized apartment buildings with renowned facades and interior details that have stood the test of time.
When completed, the Minneapolis Tribune touted the Laurel Apartments as “complete with every modern convenience… solid masonry, faced on the exterior with St. Louis pressed brick and brown sandstone trimmings.” This building highlights the peak of apartment house development in Loring Park just before the Panic of 1893 forced architects to adopt more conservative building designs.
3. Basilica of Saint Mary, added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975: In 1905, a one-block parcel of land on Hennepin Avenue in the growing Loring Park neighborhood was unveiled as the site for a new church. Emmanuel Louis Masqueray was retained as chief architect for the baroque-stylized project. The exterior of the basilica took 6 years to complete between 1907 and 1913, whereas the interior wasn’t completed until 1925. The Basilica of Saint Mary is immaculately ornate, featuring over 60 stained glass windows, a marble altar, domed roof, and a collection of double bronze doors containing the symbols of the apostles and evangelists. The Basilica of Saint Mary was the first Basilica in the United States.
4. Thompson Flats, added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 2019: Built in 1899, this apartment building at 1605 Hennepin Avenue South is a great example of a typical living situation for middle-class families seeking living arrangements near downtown Minneapolis at the turn of the century.
5. H. Alden Smith House, added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1976: This 126-year old mansion was designed by architect William Channing Whitney in a Richardsonian Romanesque style for Horatio Alden Smith in 1897. Smith was a partner at the Smith & Wyman Sash and Door Co., where he amounted to considerable wealth. The Smith family owned the mansion until 1919. The mansion was later used by the Minneapolis Community and Technical College until they sold the property in 2016.
The H. Alden Smith House has since been revitalized as a social hub for the Abbey Apartments that are attached to the mansion. The interior of the mansion has been repurposed into a cocktail lounge, event space, billiards room, and co-working space; whereas the back garden has been turned into an outdoor fitness center.
6. Westminster Presbyterian Church, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 26, 1998: During the late 1800s, Minneapolis saw a boom in the construction of several ecclesiastical buildings. When the Westminster Presbyterian Church was devastated by fire in the 1890s, the congregation sought to build a new church located at the corner of Nicollet Mall and South 12th Street. Completed in 1897, the third iteration of the Westminster congregational church is a magnificent example of Gothic architecture.
The church has undergone multiple renovations and restoration projects throughout the 1900s. Recently, the church underwent a 40,000 square foot addition in 2018 designed by JDD Studio. With an exterior offering hints of Frank Gehry influence, the Westminster Presbyterian Church seamlessly marries classic and contemporary architecture.
7. Architects and Engineers Building, added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1984: At the corner of South 12th Street and 2nd Avenue, the Architects and Engineers Building is a one-of-a-kind four-story Italian Renaissance palazzo. Designed by and for the Hewitt and Brown firm in 1920, the building was created as a showpiece of their architectural styles. The building was intended to be a collaborative drafthouse with private offices, drafting rooms, libraries, and meeting rooms.
The building’s unique exterior showcases varying window design by floor. Encased in the arches of the third-floor windows are the names of historical architects such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Sir Christopher Wren, Henry Hobson Richardson, and Michelangelo.
8. Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 1984: Nestled into the corner of the Minneapolis Convention Center lies the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, designed by Warren Howard Hayes in 1891. Located at 101 Grant Street East, the church presents itself with a motif of recurring towers, arches, stone gables, and stained glass features.
9. The Eitel Hospital, added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 2007: This Lowell A. Lamoreaux designed six-story building sits at the northeast corner of Willow Street and West 14th Street where it overlooks Loring Park. Constructed in 1911 with a brick and limestone facade, the Eitel Hospital was one of the first hospitals devoted to surgery during a time of advances in medical care for illness, disease, disabilities, and injuries.
The building is named after George and Jeanette Eitel. George was a prominent surgeon while Jeanette worked as the co-founder of the hospital. Jeanette was a former army nurse during the Spanish-American War. She later was superintendent of a nurse training school at City Hospital and Sioux Falls Hospital.
The Eitel Hospital treated roughly 1000 patients in its first year, the majority female. Over the next several years, the hospital’s patient services grew as more wards were created throughout the building. In 1929, Jeanette Eitel sold the hospital to the Nicollet Clinic under the agreement that Nicollet was to build a new hospital building within a given time period. After a number of reorganizations and mergers through the next several decades, the Eitel Hospital was closed in 1985. The building was used as office space for Allina Health Systems until 2006, when a housing developer purchased the former hospital to rehabilitate the building into apartment buildings.
10. The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 2022: Located at 410 Oak Grove Street on the south side of Loring Park, the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis was designed by Leon Arnal and Magney & Tusler Architects and Engineers in 1927. The Italianate Renaissance Revival style building features a double decker brick portico facade with limestone columns, balconies, and cornice.
The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis is historically significant for its association with the Women’s Club Movement, and increasing women’s roles in the social, civic, educational, philanthropic, and cultural development of Minneapolis.
11. Northwestern National Life Insurance Company Home Office, added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 2012: Right next door to the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company Home Office was designed by the Hewitt & Brown firm in a Beaux-Arts style for construction in 1924. The building features an imposing main entrance at the intersection of Oak Grove Street and West 15th Street.
The building remained under ownership of the Northwestern National Life Insurance company until 1966, when the building was sold and subdivided to suit smaller offices. The building was recently sold to Kraus-Anderson in 2011, who oversaw a major rehabilitation project to convert the former office building into upscale apartments.
12. Eugene J. Carpenter House, added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1977: This house, located at 300 Clifton Avenue, was built in 1877 for the family of C. M. Douglas in a Queen Anne style. The Douglas family sold the home to Harvey Brown, who lived here from 1890 until his death in 1904.
The home was then purchased by Eugene and Merrette Carpenter in 1905; their family owned the home until 1948. Upon the Carpenter family’s purchase of the home, they employed Edwin Hewitt to transform the exterior of the house into a Georgian Revival style in a project which saw the home’s roof removed, walls rebuilt, and exterior refinished over a 10 month period.
The Carpenter House is famed for being the birthplace of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Carpenters hired designer John Bradstreet to assist with the interior and exterior design of their home. Carpenter, Bradstreet, and Hewitt struck a friendship over their shared appreciation for the arts. Carpenter used his marketing skills to generate a fundraiser to build the art museum while Bradstreet and Hewitt operated as curators for the museum.
The Carpenter House was sold in the late 1940s to be turned into smaller apartments. The house saw multiple owners over the next several decades before being converted into an office building for a number of years. Today, the Carpenter House operates as a bed & breakfast and event space.
13. Elbert L. Carpenter House, added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1977: This four-story Federal Style red brick house was completed in 1906 for Elbert Carpenter by William Channing Whitney. Elbert Carpenter’s home features a symmetrical design with a white baluster cornice that conceals a low hipped roof.
Elbert Carpenter was a lumber mogul and philanthropist. He founded the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, which later became the Minnesota Orchestra. His home joined Eugene Carpenter’s home as an induction to the National Register of Historic Places in September of 1977 for the home’s preservation of Georgian Revival style along with Carpenter’s achievements in industry and music.
Stay tuned for next week's Historic Places of Southwest and explore Lowry Hill, Stevens Square, Whittier, East Isles, Kenwood, and Cedar-Isles-Dean.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story included Ripley Memorial Hospital which is in Harrison, not Bryn Mawr. We have removed Ripley Memorial Hospital from our list due to the geographic limitations of our coverage area.
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